The present invention refers to a shock absorbing device for sliding bearings, e.g. hydrostatic or hydrodynamic bearings.
It is essential if a bearing shall operate without disturbances that the lubricant film between the movable parts is not broken and that metallic contact will not result. It is generally easy to control that oil is at hand between the bearing parts in a bearing working under calculated and stationary conditions. Within certain fields of use it is however possible that load shocks will arise. These shocks can be of very short duration but they can also occur over a longer period of time. When these shocks occur, it is likely that there will be a deterioration of the oil film, whereby a metallic contact will result. Such metallic contact often leads to bearing damages.
In certain bearings, e.g. hydrodynamic sliding bearings, it is possible to absorb such shocks by means of a highly viscous oil. The bearings can also be supported by a stack of spring which makes it resilient. Such methods are however often not sufficient. It can be particularly difficult to obtain the desired effect by means of a highly viscous oil if the speeds of relative motion are low. This can be the case e.g. at bell crushers where only a relatively slow reciprocal motion of the bearings supporting the bell will be at hand.